Calendar Ships 11: November - I Give Thanks That You Belong To Me
by Gatergirl79
Summary: Dean wakes up one morning to discover his Mom alive and well, and preparing for Thanksgiving. That's not the only surprise for Dean, and by the time the turkey is laid in front of him, he finds he's got a lot to be thankful for.


**A/N: Happy Thanksgiving, sorry it's later. Xx This idea has been kind of floating around in my head for a while now, and I figured now was as good a time to write it as any.**

* * *

The scent of cooking bacon played at Dean's senses, teasing and taunting, making his mouth water. Shame it was all just a dream, he lamented. Shame that the moment he opened his eyes it would all vanish, swallowed up by the darkness and regret of his life.

Groaning at the rumble of his stomach, Dean rolled over, slowly allowing his slumber to fade. He didn't want to wake, though. Didn't want to return to a world where it was a struggle just living his life day after day. Where his hands were never clean.

Once upon a time, he loved the life he had. So much so he'd given Sam a hard time for not wanting it, for fighting to escape it. Only over the last year or so, he'd found himself hating his life, hating the constant fighting. It was an endless struggle. Ever new for more deadly and world destroying than the last.

And maybe it was just because he was getting older, but he'd started to think about the future, and how much he was missing out on. In all honestly, he'd never imagined he'd actually end up a drunken old coot like Bobby, not that he didn't love and miss the guy, but that wasn't a life he wanted.

Dean sighed and buried his face into the pillow. There was no sound of Sam, so obviously his brother had gone out for breakfast.

Wait! Dean frowned against the warm cotton, the dream coming back to him. The garden. Amara. Chuck. A billion souls clawing to be freed.

 _"You gave me what I needed most. I want to do the same for you."_

Dean shot up in bed, chest heaving and swear peppering his body. He blinked, twisting his head to stare at the unfamiliar room, his heart pounding. A bright beam of sunlight burst through the gap in the curtains, illuminating the whole room. Its pal blue walls, spotted with band posters. A bookshelf filled with books and board games.

Dean threw off the covers, leaping off the bed, heart pounding and head dizzy. Memories of the last time he'd woken in an unfamiliar room coming back to him with a heavy weight of fear. He looked around, panicked, searching for signs of a Jinn.

His first instinct is to throw himself out of the window, if he dies in the dream, he'll wake up in his world, but something stopped him. Instead he reached for his jeans, hopping into them as he made his way to the door. Yanking it open, he was met with the delicious aroma of bacon once more; stronger and more enticing.

He froze the moment he stepped out of the room, looking around the now familiar hallway. The sight of his old family home only managed to make him panic more, throat thickening. He shook his head. He couldn't do this again, he wasn't strong enough. He knew that now. If he was given the choice of his perfect life, he'd take it.

That realization made something in his gut ease, his shoulders relaxing. He licked his lips, swallowing back the fear. He looked around again, taking in the small changes in the house. There was a certain lack of perfection this time round. He cautiously made his way towards the stairs, the sound of movement below, the clatter of pans and the low hum of music.

"Dean?"

He span, eyes wide, the find Sam stood hovering outside the nursery door, a pal look on his face. His gaze flickering left to right. "Sammy?"

Sam stepped forward. "What's going on?"

"What do you mean?" Dean frowned. Last time Sam had barely tolerated him, clearly the Jinn was learning from its mistakes. He was still trying to figure out how he'd even gotten here. Last time, he'd remembered going up against the Jinn, maybe this time the creature had wiped his memory.

Sam dragged a hand through his hair, chest heaving. "Last thing I remember I was outside a bar with Crowley, Cas and Rowena watching the sun return." he breathed. "Are we...dead? Is this heaven?"

Dean hadn't considered that. He stared at his brother, thinking. He looked around the hall once more. Heaven? Well it would make sense, but...no, it couldn't be. He hadn't needed to sacrifice himself to stop Amara. He remembered back, brows knitted, to Chuck and Amara opening up to one another, unburdening themselves. Forgiving each other. - Chuck removing the souls from within him.

 _"You gave me what I needed most. I want to do the same for you."_

"I..." Dean shook his head, turning to glance at the staircase, the photos on the wall. "I don't think so." he whispered, taking the first step, his heart racing.

Sam hurried to follow after him. "Then what?"

"Jinn maybe?" Dean muttered, his eyes flickering to his left. He paused in front of the photographs lining the wall. His eyes narrowed at he examined the image of him and Sam, side by side in front of the impala, bright smiles.

"A Jinn?" Sam whispered, leaning forward to look over Dean's shoulder. "But we haven't come across a Jinn in years. I don't remember..."

"Me neither." Dean interrupted, taking a step down and looking at the photo of him and Mary, the same photo he carried in his wallet. He licked his lips nervously. "I figure it wiped my memory."

"So who head are we in, yours or mine?" Sam asked.

Dean shrugged. "I'd say mine."

"And I'd say mine."

"Boys?" came a familiar voice that had the both of them freezing in place. "Are you up finally?"

Dean glanced back over his shoulder, waiting Sam's face pal at the sound of their mother's voice.

"Mom?" Sam choked.

Dean nodded, taking his time as he continued on down the steps. Just like the upper floors, the house wasn't as it had been in the previous 'dream', the pain was faded in places. The couch a little more battered from long term use.

"Dean." Sam whispered firmly.

Dean turned to see Sam holding up a frame. Stepping closer he glanced down, his heart leaping into his throat at the sight of the familiar image. The both of them surrounding by their friends, Bobby, Ellen, Jo and Cas.

"How is this...? What's going on, Dean?"

"I don't know." He shook his head, moving on towards the kitchen.

They both came to a halt on the threshold of the kitchen, eyes fixed and heart racing at the sight of their mom, moving around to the sound of the radio. There were pans and vegetables all over the place, a pie waiting to be slipped into the over.

"Mom?" Dean whispered, throat closing up around the word.

Mary turned to look at them both, her face flushed and glowing in the morning sunlight. "Morning sleepy heads, wondered if you boys were going drag yourselves out of bed."

"You're..." Sam choked off.

Mary stared at them, eyes searching both their faces. "You boys alright?" she wiped her hands on her apron and stepped up close to them. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"You might say that." Sam muttered.

"Don't tell me you're both coming down with a bug?" Mary sighed, reaching out both hands to touch her sons' faces. "You feel fine."

Without a word of discussion, Sam and Dean lunged forward, wrapping their arms around each other and their mom, squeezing her tight.

"Hey, what's this." she squeezed.

It was a few long seconds before they drew back, eyes red and glistening with tears. "Sorry." they said in unison.

"We've missed you's all." Sam snuffled.

Mary smiled, shaking her head. "You were only back a month ago." she huffed, batting them away and heading back to the counter.

Dean and Sam glance at one another.

"I need the spare chairs from the garage before you boys get lost in beer and the game." Mary informed them distractedly.

"Uh, chairs?" The pair replied, not moving from their spots in the kitchen doorway.

Mary seemed to sense them, turning to look at them again with worried eyes. "What is wrong with you two? Did something happen on that hunt last week?"

"Hunt?" Dean crocked.

"The werewolf in Kentucky." She looked between them.

"Right, Kentucky." Sam nodded. "Werewolves. It went fine, we're just...tired." he wrapped his arm around Dean's tugging him away from the kitchen towards garage door, Mary's confused and concerned gaze on them every step of the way. "We'll get those chairs."

"Oh, mom." Dean said, before being dragged out of the kitchen. "Where's dad?"

Mary's eyes narrowed, a small crease denting the space between her brows. "What?"

"Dad." Dean repeated.

There was a long silence. "I'd assume he's on his way home from Colorado." she answered.

Dean nodded, exhaling a relieved breath.

The garage was freezing, the cold air seeming in through door, the concrete like ice against Dean's bare feet. He probably should have put his boots on before leaving the bedroom. He rubbed his hands together and hopped on his feet while staring at the kitchen door, watching an obviously concerned Mary watch them.

"So it's a Jinn." Sam whispered, moving across the garage, away from their mom's view. It has to be. Right?"

Dean shrugged. "I guess." he muttered. "I just... I don't know, something just doesn't feel..." he turned back to Sam, brows pinched.

"Right?" Sam muttered, nodding in agreement.

"Exactly." Dean sighed, brows pinched tightly together. "You feel it too? It doesn't feel like a dream, it feels real. _You_ feel real."

Sam nodded. "So do you. - But it has to be, right? I mean what other explanation is there."

Dean stared at the garage, the battered VW Beatle, the boxes with his and Sam's names on them. The stack of chairs in the corner. "Amara. Chuck maybe?"

"What?" Sam frowned.

"Before they went off for family counselling, Amara said that she was going to give me what I needed." he looked back at the house.

"What you needed? Mom?"

Dean shrugged.

They stood in silence staring at one another in the dim light of the garage.

"So you think this is _real_?" Sam asked quietly, his voice quivering in the cold.

Dean shrugged, he had no idea. He wanted to believe it was, he really did, but as much as his gut said it was, his brain rebelled against the hope.

"How are we meant to know?" Sam asked.

"Cas." Dean whispered. "Cas? If you can hear me, if you're still up there, get your feathery ass down here and give us some answers."

Dean waited, a cold breeze playing up his spine, but when he turned there was no sign of the angel and his stomach clenched painfully, a lump forming in his throat. If this was a world created in his own mind by a Jinn, then where was Cas? There was no way his perfect world would exist without Cas in it.

However if Amara had done something, altered the past in some way, maybe Cas wasn't a part of his life. Never had been. "We should..." he muttered around the thick lump in his throat. "...check out journals. If we're still hunters, we have to have journals, right?"

Sam nodded. "Try and piece together what's happening." he agreed.

With a sharp nod, Dean marched across to the pile of chair, lifting them with an angry grunt and storming back into the house, Sam close behind him.

(* * *)

Dean had often dreamt about what it would be like to have a normal life, that's why he'd ended up in that seemingly perfect world before, but the fact was for Dean the perfect life was made up of more than just having his mom alive. Deep down Dean wanted the best of both worlds, the peace and calm of his family home, his mom and dad. Of normal. And the adventure and fulfilment of being a hunter.

And it seemed, for the most part, he'd had that.

While Mary fussed around in the kitchen getting ready for Thanksgiving, he and Sam headed up to his room, and hunted though the books on the shelve. Must to his frustration the only journal he found was buried at the bottom of his duffle-bag at the end of his bed, and seemed to only date from three years ago.

"Well?" He asked when Sam returned from his room, empty handed.

Sam shook his head. "Nothing." he looked around the room.

"I found this, but...there's nothing before our encounter with Henry, three years ago." he frowned down at the leather bound journal, flipping the pages.

Sam moved over to join him on the bed, reading over his shoulder.

"And it's weird, some of it is exactly how I remembered it happening, but other stuff..." he shook his head, then looked at his brother, "According to this, Dad, he's in Minnesota."

Sam frowned, "What? But mom..."

"I know, but there's this whole section..." he pointed to the page, "...about Henry trying to contact dad in Minnesota but being told to go to hell. - _Which is just typical of John, really._ " Dean quoted. "Skips out of his kids to start a new family, then gives his old man a hard time. Even though Henry didn't actually abandon him."

"Wait, new family?" Sam gaped. "But Mom said Dad was on his way back from Colorado after a hunt."

Dean shrugged. "I know, but according to this John isn't a hunter."

"So - That was a couple of years ago, maybe he and mom...I don't know, got back together or whatever?"

Dean flicked a page and shook his head as he read. "I doubt it." he sighed. "Seems like Dad hates us, and mom."

"What? Why?"

"Adam."

The pair fell silent for a long moment.

"So…what happened to Adam?" Sam asked, voice thick with guilt. "The wraith?"

Dean shook his head. "Doesn't seem like it. - _It's not our fault Michael went after Adam. Why can't John see that? If anyone, it's his fault_."

"So the whole thing with Michael and Lucifer still went down, then?"

Dean shrugged. "I guess so, and Adam got caught in the crossfire, again."

"But how? If dad isn't a hunter, then how does Adam even exist? He only met his mom because of a hunt?"

"I don't know." he tossed the journal aside with a frustrated grunt. "We need answers." he got to his feet, pacing the room. "Cas? Cas get your ass down here, we need you."

"Is Cas even in our lives here?" Sam frowned up at him.

"If the apocalypse almost happened, he must." Dean grumbled. "Cas!" he snapped angrily, but there was no sign of him.

"It wouldn't be the first time he didn't answer."

Dean shook his head, brows creasing. "Nah, he always answers my calls, you know that." a realisation wraps itself around Dean's gut and squeezes tight. The only time Cas hasn't answered his call was when he wasn't there to.

The sound of a front door opening and closing, drew the pair's attention. Sharing intrigued and hopeful looks, the both hurried out of the door and down the stairs, drawing to a halt in the kitchen doorway for the second time that day. Both jaws dropping at the sight before them.

"Bobby?" the gasped, eyes wide as they watched the old man look over at them, his arms still snuggly settled around Mary's waist.

"What are you two idijts staring at?"

"They've been weird all morning." Mary whispered, frowning over at them.

(* * *)

"What the hell?"

"I know."

"No seriously, Dude, what the hell?" Dean gasped, looking towards the kitchen with wide eyes.

"I _know_." Sam shrugged, shaking his head.

The pair watched from a distance as Bobby and Mary talked in the kitchen, mostly about them.

"So, when Mom said dad was on his way home, she meant Bobby?" Dean puzzled. "How long have they been...you know?"

"How the hell should I know?" Sam snapped, frustrated and confused. "Nothing is making any sense right now?"

"You think?" Dean scoffed, scratching at the back of his head. "Where the hell is Cas?" he growled.

"Maybe this isn't a Jinn after all, maybe this is like that time with the Fates? You know."

Dean frowned, considering it for a long moment. "Right, yeah." he nodded. "Only this time Bobby's married to Mom instead of Ellen."

Sam sighed, falling back onto the couch. "Do you think Ellen and Jo are still alive too?"

Dean lowered himself down next to Sam, leaning back against the floral cushions, and shrugged.

"Do you think we should ask?"

"Ask them what, if our dead friends are actually alive? They already think we're crazy."

"So" Sam shrugged. "They're both hunters, if we tell them what's happened..."

"We don't know what's happened."

"I know that Dean, but if we tell them what's happening with us. How this isn't the world we remember, maybe they can help us figure out what's going on."

Dean stared at the couple in the kitchen, watching them stare back at him. "God I wish Cas was here." he muttered, his heart clenching.

Sam nodded. "Yeah."

"Okay, so...we tell them what's happening and..."

Dean was cut off by the sound of a car in the drive. Frowning he looked over at Sam then they both hurriedly pushed themselves up out of their seat, rushing to the door. Maybe Cas was human again and that's why he wasn't answering Dean's prayers. He yanked open the door and his heart did an odd mix of falling and soaring.

"Charlie?" he gasped, hurrying down the porch stairs and over to the redhead, dragging her into a tight hug before she'd even completely exited the car. "You're alive."

"Hey, Dean." Charlie choked, eyes flickering over his shoulder to Sam. She padded Dean's back. "Of course I'm alive, it was just a salt and burn."

Dean squeezed his eyes closed tightly, burning his face into the crook of her neck and breathing her in. The guilt he'd felt since her death plucked at his heart strings. Pressing a kiss to her temple, Dean drew back to look down at her with watery eyes, drinking her in.

"You okay?" Charlie frowned, concerned.

Dean swallowed thickly, nodding. "I'm fine. Fine. It's so good to see you." he reluctantly stepped back, only to have Sam pushing past him to crush the red-head in another tight hug. Dean smiled, Sam's guilt over Charlie's death had been almost as crippling as his own.

"Okay, what's going on?" Charlie gasped, finally managing to push Sam away. "You both look like you've seen a ghost." she looked between them, concerned.

"We're just glad to see you."

"You guys saw me last weekend." she pointed out, eyes searching the pair of them. "When I dropped by the bunker to do maintenance on the computer."

"The bunker?" Sam asked, brows furrowed. "We live at the bunker?"

Charlie stared up at him. "Okay, what's with you guys, seriously?"

"Uh..." Dean opened his mouth to speak, only to snap it shut as his mom appeared at the door.

"What are y'all doin' standing out here in the cold, get inside." she smiled brightly at Charlie.

Slowly they made their way up the stairs, Charlie constantly looking back at them with curious looks. Once they were inside and the door was close, she turned to Mary. "What's with them?"

Mary frowned at the boys. "I don't know."

Dean and Sam shared an awkward look, shifting on their still bare feet.

"I think we need to talk." Sam said quietly, ignoring Dean's whispered protest.

(* * *)

Mary, Bobby and Charlie sat on the couch staring at the boy with the exact same look on their faces. A look that said they weren't sure if the boys were joking or had actually gone insane.

"So, you're saying that none of this is real?" Charlie quizzed, sceptically.

"No, I mean, yes it's real. At least we think it is." Sam said hurriedly.

"It might that a Jinn has us hauled up somewhere feeding off us." Dean said matter-of-factly. "Or it the Fates screwing with us again. - Or, it's down to God's sister."

"God's sister?" Charlie frowned.

"Yes." Sam nodded.

Bobby and Mary exchanged looked, then stared back at their boys. "And how exactly are we meant to know?"

Dean gaped in surprise, expecting the pair to be a little more dismissive. "I...we, don't know." he shrugged. "I'd hoped to ask Cas."

"Cas?" Mary whispered, giving Bobby another look, before turning back to the pair. "Have you tried calling him?"

"Yeah, but he's not answering my prayers." Dean grumbled, warily.

Mary gave him that look only mothers did, the one that questioned if she'd accidently dropped him on his head as a baby. "Well considering he'd not an angel anymore, that would be pretty hard." she said in that patient maternal way. "Have you tried his cell?"

Dean's heart clenched, "Cell, right?" he looked at Sam, _why didn't you think of that?_ He silently asked, and Sam shrugged guiltily.

Charlie chuckled, shaking her head. "Is there any point calling?" She asked, "Just wait for him to get here." she looked at Mary. "He's still coming right?"

"He's meant to be, assuming he and Claire don't get distracted by a hunt."

"A hunt?" Dean frowned, looking between the three faces on the couch. "Cas and Claire, hunt? Together?"

Bobby rolled his eyes and shoved himself out of the chair, clearly tired of the crazy. "I need a drink."

"One." Mary called after him. "I don't want you passed out on the couch _before_ dinner."

Bobby grumbled something under his breath as he past Dean and Sam.

"Look boys, why don't you just relax and wait for Cas to get here, and maybe he can help you figure out what's happened." Mary reassured, pushing herself off the couch and heading back into the kitchen.

"Well that was helpful." Dean grumbled, glowering up at Sam as if it were all his fault.

"It can't be a Jinn, guys." Charlie said, shifting forward on the couch. "There are none left, not after you guys killed the alpha, what four years ago?"

Sam and Dean turned to stare at her. "We killed the Alpha?" Sam questioned.

Charlie nodded. "I wasn't there obviously, before we met, but yeah, it was after Cas and Mary got Sam out of hell."

The brother's moved to sit either side of Charlie. "What else?" Dean demanded.

"Uh?" Charlie frowned.

"Fill us in on our lives, Charlie." Sam pleaded.

Charlie looked at them uncertainly and then smiled and settled back once more, and began the tale of the Winchester brothers.

(* * *)

As it turned out, not much had changed about their lives. John and Mary had gotten a divorce when Dean was 6 and Sam was 2. He'd discovered that Mary was a hunter and was sneaking off on cases. He couldn't handle it, and just skipped town, literally. He'd ended up in Minnesota and remarried. It seemed while the circumstances were changed, Adam was always mean to be a part of their lives.

After the divorce, Mary had continued to hunt, but unlike with John, Sam and Dean weren't dragged around the country. When she was called away on cases, the boys stayed with Missouri Mosley, and friend and contact of Mary's. When the boys hit their teens, they'd been told of the family legacy, and _both_ had eagerly joined the family business.

Everything had gone alone as it had before after that. Azazel had come calling, Sam had died, forcing Dean to make a deal to bring him back. There had been a rift between the boys and Mary in the wake of the revelations about Azazel and the deal she'd made. One that hadn't been heal until the apocalypse had begun in earnest. Bobby had been instrumental in getting the boys back on track with their mom.

According to Mary, who'd interrupted a couple of time to fill in the gaps, her and Bobby had been friends since they'd crossed paths during a hunt in 1987, but nothing had happened between them for years, despite the fact that he'd become an almost surrogate father to the boys.

After that, everything changed. Sam had returned from hell, only this time, with a soul, and apparently it had nothing to do with Cas and Crowley. Castiel was still forced to make a deal with Crowley in his battle with Raphael, but unlike the last time, Dean had been able to convince him to stop. Though apparently no-one knew how. All any of them knew was that one day Cas was willing to sacrifice them all to win, and the next, they were stood side by side with Cas and Balthazar, ready to take down Raphael, which they succeeded in doing. - At a cost.

From there on out, everything was different. There was no mention of Kevin Tran, so the pair could assume he'd never been called, especially if the tablet had never been discovered. Which was great, it meant he was alive and well, and probably getting straight A at college.

They hadn't met Charlie in their attempt to bring down Dick Roman, but rather during the Moondoor case. She's apparently been so enticed by the prospect of real magic and adventure she's started hunting on her own, and only just managed to not get herself killed hunting a shapeshifter. Thankfully Bobby had been there to drag her ass out of the fire and bring her home. She'd been a part of the family ever since.

So no, Leviathan, no Purgatory. No angel or demon tablet, no Metatron. No, Mark of Cain. No Amara.

"But if we never released Amara, how did we get here?" Dean mused, confused.

(* * *)

Dean had a headache, it had come on while Charlie, his mom and Bobby were filling them in on their alternate lives, and the heat from the cooking turkey hadn't helped, so he'd excused himself and sort out the quiet of his room.

He stretched out on the bed and rubbed absently at his arm. The mark hadn't been there for a long while, but somehow still felt branded into his flesh. It was a relief to know that the worst part of his life had never happened, at least in this timeline. That his blind stupidity hadn't cost the lives of those he cared about, namely Charlie. That this world, despite its troubles and the continued threat of the supernatural, wasn't on the brink of destruction any longer. From what he could gather, this was the most peace they'd had in years. They were just taking on one monster at a time, saving lives where and when they could. The life Dean had always wanted.

And Cas was there, or would be soon. He was alive and apparently human. He hadn't pressed for answers about his angelic best friend, not wanting to sound...what? Eager? Desperate? He didn't even know.

What he did know was that his dream of a future growing old with Cas was actually achievable, and knowing that ignited a warm sense of serenity inside him.

Calm for the first time since he woke, he felt his eyelids drifting closed, sleep pulling him under.

(* * *)

Dean woke to the warm weight of a hand on his shoulder. Blinking his eyes open it took him a few seconds to focus but when he did, it was the most perfect sight he'd seen in years. "Cas?" he smiled, shifting up on the bed, eyes locked with the angels.

"Hello Dean."

Dean chuckled, it was nice to know something never changed. The two small words his anchor in a new crazy world. They sat there, silently watching each other, until Cas broke the comfortable quiet.

"Sam suggested I talk to you in private."

Dean frowned. "About?"

Cas waved his hand around. "Everything. Why you're here. Why...we're here."

"We?" Dean's eyes widened and he shifted forward just a little, bring his face just a touch closer to Castiel's. "Wait, you remember the other world too?"

Cas gave him that small smile, the one that made his eyes shimmer brightly. "I do."

Dean sighed, relieved, "So what the hell's going on Cas?"

"It's a gift." The angel, ex-angel said, getting to his feet to pace over, staring out at the yard below. "Amara wanted to repay you, for everything that happened."

Dean nodded, "I figured as much." he sighed.

"Amara gave you back your mother," Cas muttered. "She altered the past, so that Mary never died, and let history take its course. - Regretfully, Michael and Lucifer's desire for war was not so easily derailed, but Chuck stepped in when he could." he smiled.

Dean nodded, "Yeah, Mom, Charlie and Bobby filled us in on most of the big stuff. - But how do you remember, according to Mom, your...human now."

"God, _Chuck_ , felt he owe you too, so..." he paused, chewing on his lip thoughtfully, then turned slowly to meet Dean's gaze, "I'm our Cas." he said softly, "By which I mean, I've been implanted here from your original timeline, with all my memories." he smiled awkwardly. "It was rather disconcerting when I woke this morning in a motel, unable to sense or hear heaven."

"I'm sure."

"And then Claire arrived and..." he shrugged, "It seems we hunt together. I apparently tried to help her locate her mother after I was fell."

"Fell?" Dean frowned.

Cas flushed, he actually flushed. "According to Claire, I chose to leave heaven when you..." he cleared his throat. "Convinced me to."

Dean got to his feet, brows drawn tight together. "I convinced you to leave heaven? How?"

Cas licked at his chapped lips, turning to stare out of the window. "She didn't say." he muttered.

"Cas? You're a terrible liar."

"I doesn't matter what made my other self fall, Dean, we are not those people."

Dean narrowed his gaze at the angel, his lips pressing into a tight line. "Cas? If you tell me or I'll go down and ask Claire myself."

Cas glowered at him. "What does it matter?" he snapped, voice low and threatening. "As I said, we are not those people."

Dean waited, watching the ex-angel closely. There was something about the rose colour tint that slowly surfaced on Cas' cheeks that made Dean's heart beat faster. He licked at his lips, watching the afternoon sunlight playing across Cas' features, highlighting threads of gold and grey in his hair. His blue eyes were dimmer somehow, probably due to his lack of grace, but were still bluer than any Dean had ever seen, and still made his heart skip while looking into them.

He let his gaze travel down the angel, smirked at the battered AC/DC t-shirt and blue plaid shirt that had replaced the crisp white button-down, and the faded denim that he wore in place of the black slacks. Dean wondered if he still waltzed around in that dirty old trench-coat.

 _"...the other angel, the one in the dirty trench-coat who's in love with you."_

His heart pulsed, stealing his breath and his gaze lifted to Cas' face. He'd dismissed the angel's words back then, they were just Balthazar being a dick, or so he'd believed. But maybe Balthazar had been serious, maybe... - Maybe Dean wasn't alone. "Cas?"

Castiel exhaled angrily, turning fully to face Dean, eyes blazing with frustration. "She said you'd confessed your love to me okay!" he snapped, voice rough and trembling. "The other you, had confronted me about my choice to open the gates of purgatory and begged me not to do it. Telling me that you loved me and that you didn't want to lose me. - But that's a different yo..."

Dean stepped forward without even thinking about it, wrapping his fingers in the front of the shirt, and pulling Cas to him. His lips slipping into place against the ex-angels like they were mean they were made to be there. Cas melted against him, his fingers hot against the back of Dean's neck, opening his mouth and deepening the kiss.

"Boys, dinner!" Mary yelled, breaking the blissful sanctuary of their little bubble.

Drawing back Dean looked into Cas' dark eyes and for half a second considered asking his mom to put their food in the oven, before dragging Cas to his bed.

"Dean."

He shook his head. "New world, Cas. Let's just go with it." he lent forward, brushing a lingering kiss to the man's lips, before wrapping his arm around his shoulder and leading him out of the room.

Downstairs everyone had been busy. The table was set, silverware and what Dean could imagine was the best china, set out. Claire smiled at him from her seat next to Charlie, Bobby at the head of the table. There were three spare seats, two next to Sam, who had his back to them, and one beside Claire.

"Who's that for?" Dean nodded to the extra setting, while forcing Cas into the seat beside him.

As if in answer there was a knock on the door. "Door open, you're late!" Bobby yelled, not even turning to look. Dean and Sam did however, and smiled when Rufus swaggered into the house, wide grin on his face and brown paper bag in his hand.

"Well you didn't have to wait until the food was on the table to text me." Rufus grumbled, looking from Bobby to the empty table. "You said it was ready."

"I said it was on the table, twenty minutes ago." Bobby huffed, snatching the bottle from Rufus' hand. "I had to say that or we'd have been half way through the pie before you showed your face, and Mary's been slaving away on this dinner." he smiled softly down the table at Mary, as she set the last bowl of vegetables down.

"If smells great Mary." Rufus grinned, pressing a kiss to her cheek as he past, taking the empty seat next to Claire. "Hello boys, how that that werewolf hunt in..."

"No work at the table." Mary scolded, vanishing into the kitchen.

"You okay?" Sam asked, turning to look at Dean.

"Just great." Dean grinned.

Sam looked from his brother to Cas, catching the way Dean's hand has snuck under the table and the sudden shift Castiel made in his seat. "Oh." he gapped, features slowly breaking into a smile. "Finally." he sighed.

"Bitch."

"Jerk."

Mary returned with a perfectly golden turkey, that absolutely deserved the round of applause they gave it as it was set down in front of Bobby, and with it finally spec of doubt and fear evaporated, leaving Dean with nothing but a calm settled feeling. As if he'd finally found something he'd spent his whole life searching for. He was home where he belonged, with the people he loved.

When the time came for saying grace, Dean was eager to thank God, and Amara, for finally allowing him to have his perfect life. Whatever the future brought in this new world, he knew he'd be just fine with Cas and his family by his side.

* * *

 **A/N: Once again it didn't quite fit the title prompt, but I hope you enjoyed it anyhow. Happy Thanksgiving to all my American readers, may your turkey never be dry and your cranberry sauce always be plentiful. See you next month. xxx**


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